Time Management

How many times have you been asked that question in job interviews over the years? And how many times have you made the following claim?

“I’m a hardworking multitasker.”

It’s understandable. Being a good multitasker is a sign that you’re productive, right?

Not necessarily.

There are a lot of aspects of productivity that we take for granted because we have been told over and over that they’re valid. But the truth may surprise you. For example, does being a good multitasker really mean you’re more productive than your single-tasking coworkers?

Productivity is a bit of an obsession for me. I’m alwaystrying to streamline my time and get more done. Sometimes, it feels as if I spend more time trying to be productive than I do actually being productive.

Everyone goes through that.

I started to wonder what other people do to get around that — people who seem to squeeze every drop of productivity from their day. I decided to do some research, and picked up a lot of great tips and tricks I never would have thought of.

It’s a uniquely human trait. We’ll always put off today the task that can be done tomorrow.

If there’s a big enough incentive to act now, we’ll do so. For example, if you develop acute pancreatitis, you’ll probably (hopefully!) jump to action and head to the hospital. Your incentive is to end the pain and avoid permanent damage to your body.

But if the incentive isn’t big enough, we wait until it is.

A perfect example is cleaning the house. It’s not a life and death situation. No one is going to die if you neglect to …